Legend of Korra: Balance Over All
by Janie Cortes
Summary: [Pending Reconstruction - Caution]
1. I - Prologue

**_"Why won't you quit, Avatar Korra? The people of this city clearly want to get rid of the Avatar, for good this time." - Amon._**

* * *

A cold shiver running down her spine.

That's the first thing she felt as soon as she woke up.

Korra was sweating like she had just run a marathon, and her breathing was beyond heavy or uneasy. She was scared, mortified, terrified of what she saw. Of what she remembered.

In her dream, a unnerving shadow lurked behind her and above her. No, it wouldn't be exaggerated to say it felt like it was all around her. Its mere presence was out of the stuff of nightmares, a being of pure darkness destined to bring the end of the world were it ever left alone.

"Korra?" someone asked from the other side of the door, Korra watching intently as it opened.

"Korra, what are you doing there? It's already past midday. We have to get ready!"

She didn't know who or what she was expecting to see, but to both her relief and surprise it was Asami who was making her way into her room like it was the most natural thing in the world.

The truth is, she had every right to do so so naturally.

It had been two years since Korra was poisoned with mercury, and two years since she started to see the name of Avatar with a grimmer light. But just when she was starting to hit bottom, Asami was there to support her.

" _She's been doing this for two years... Does she never get tired of me?"_

Korra could only rise the left corner of her mouth in mockery to herself while she gazed towards Asami's direction. Asami had been coming to her place every day without anyone ever telling her to do so in the first place, and took care of Korra without a complain. For that, Korra felt unworthy of having such a good friend taking care of her.

It didn't remove the fact that even though Korra felt grateful to her, she couldn't muster up enough enthusiasm to laugh or smile for Asami.

She tried her best for her friend though and raised the other corner of her mouth, showing off a grim but sincerely grateful smile.

"Thank you Asami, I guess I was just having a bad dream, and—."

"Oooh no, I don't want to hear it. Not today, or did you forgot already what day it is today?" Asami looked grim for a moment there before showing off great enthusiasm for what was going to transcend in the city that evening.

Korra, with a both confused and tired look on her face, had to admit she had no idea what she was talking about.

Asami exhaled in disappointment. She was clearly getting irritated.

"It's your birthday? We're going to have a big party today!"

It still didn't ring a bell.

"Korra, we've been talking about this for days now—."

"I-I'm sorry Asami. I guess I still am a bit asleep. But don't worry, I'm sure it'll come back to me..." Korra could only look away as she kept showing off that same forced smile she's been giving to everyone for months now.

Asami knew Korra was lying. She's been having the same odd look on her face for over a month now, but as much as she wanted to pry and ask what was going through the Avatar's head, well... How can you ask such a thing of someone who went through so much pain already?

She gave up on that thought long ago. If Korra ever wanted to talk about it, she would do so with time. Korra's improvement had gone far already, as far as almost recovering her leg movement but even so a single wrong move from Asami could make all that progress crumble away.

Asami shrugged and shook off that uneasy feeling she had by clapping both hands together, making Korra look to her way again almost instantly and remove that grim look on her face too.

"Well enough about that. We have a lot to do today. We have to do something about that hair, and you still haven't eaten a thing today. We still haven't picked up the right dress for tonight—there might not be enough time, but... before I get overexcited about all this, I just wanted you to know that—I wish you a happy birthday, Korra!"

Korra waved off Asami as she made her way to make preparations for tonight. Once she was out of reach however, the next thing Korra's face showed was anger and jealousy.

She tried to deny it and hide those feelings deep into the back of her head by clenching her bed sheets with all her strength. But it was in vain, Korra was jealous of Asami's kindness and sweet smile, and angry because she had no way of doing the same thing for her friend.


	2. I - I

**_"How far do you want to take this, Korra? Are these people really worth fighting for...?" - ?_**

* * *

The truth is, there was much going on in the world in the present.. But all of that didn't seem to matter to the Avatar.

Right now, what she was curious yet mostly worried about was Asami's eccentric behavior when it came to picking out clothes.

The party was just a few hours away, and Korra had been standing in the same position for little over an hour now at the top of a platform, with just enough space between her waist and her arms to let Asami do her thing.

" _I mean, it's good that Asami is enjoying herself, but..."_

She didn't have the mental strength to even finish her own thoughts. It was just too much. Asami had been running around from one place to the other, dressing and undressing the Avatar as if she was trying to find the perfect dress for an imperfect woman.

"A-Asami, don't you think I should—"

"This is a very important party Korra, we need you to look on your best for tonight."

"Why, what's going to happen—" Korra quickly interrupted herself. She didn't want to give off the idea she really wasn't paying attention to what Asami said now and then, and her birthday party had been of those occasions.

For what it was worth, she didn't want to disappoint her friend.

"A-Anyway..." Asami continued the conversation as if ignoring what Korra had said.

"I'm glad that we're able to do this. I mean, it's not exactly what I was hoping it would be but... Why don't you and I go to the city and go shopping one day?"

Korra's chest tightened, making her shift her eyes towards Asami who was playing with a set of clothes as she shyly continued talking.

"I guess what I am trying to say is, I think it's time to... you know, move on and make the most out of what you have today. It's no use to really do any of this if you're not having fun too, right?"

Korra didn't know what to do in that moment.

Asami had always been thinking on her well-being. She was always there to support her and she not once did she look like she was feeling obligated to do so in the first place.

If anything, Asami seemed like she truly wanted to take care of her, and that only made Korra feel more angry with herself.

"W-Would you... pass me that dress, Asami?" said Korra with a low voice at first, before repeating herself with more enthusiasm for Asami to listen to her.

Asami looked up, clearly dumbfounded at Korra's request as she looked to the dress she was pointing to.

"Are you sure about this? This dress..." Asami's voice was cut short by her own sadness and obvious concern.

It was the same long ball gown of old. Of a simple design compared to what Asami first had in mind, and a strong blue color that represented her water tribe origins and a white trim on both layers of skirt that went down all the way to her ankles, holding a small blue gem from the collar of her dress. The only thing that had changed was the armlet she used to wear with it

And only after she truly looked at herself on her mirror, she realized she had lost considerable weight, and with it most of her old raw strength.

But that much was already clear since last week, when Korra tried to do as Asami had suggested and took her frustrations out of a sandbag. Sad to say it didn't end well, for Korra's fists and for what was left of her dignity that is.

Even now she could tell everyone was starting to see her as a burden, an Avatar that had served its purpose and had lost its path along the way.

But Asami had a point. Maybe it was time to move on.

The only thing she could think of to move forward however, was to use the same dress she was wearing the very same day she had finally started to wither away.

"I mean, it's not much but... we have to start from somewhere, right?" Korra stated with a feeble voice, showing just how obviously terrified she was from looking at herself on the mirror.

The dress may have stayed the same, but the woman had not.

She no longer projected the same strength of before, in fact she projected weakness and fragility and sadness. The exact opposite of who she was when she first came into Asami's life.

Asami choke on her own words and was unable to say anything to Korra. Silence quickly taking over the entire room.

Korra saw through the mirror that Asami was now troubled.

" _Did I do something I shouldn't have...?"_

For one last time, Korra tried her very best to give off the most sincere smile possible, but maybe it had had the opposite effective. Because of this her smile was quickly turning grim and started to get ready to apologize for what she had said.

But Asami's arms stopped her from saying anything else, as they found their way around Korra's waist and wrapped her in a warm and delicate embrace, making Korra completely ignore the fact that Asami was pressing her head against her back, and was doing her best to hold on her tears by sobbing as quietly as she could against her dress.

"I'm here Korra... So please, don't give up just yet. We've come so far together already..."

That is when Korra had finally realized that she wasn't the only one suffering. How she wasn't the only one who had been overwhelmed for what had happened to her.

"Asami..."

"D-Don't—Don't say another word Korra, just... let me stay like this, please."

And that she did. The atmosphere surrounding them had changed. Korra couldn't understand what was burdening Asami unless she asked and neither could she guess for what reason she wanted to stay in this position.

But she so wanted to show Asami just how happy she was right now.

How genuine her smile was right now.


	3. I - II

**_"Korra, this is only the beginning." - Kuvira._**

* * *

This was going to be a long night. That much was obvious to Korra and Asami by the time they were done dressing up.

It was just past sunset, and a grim and mystical atmosphere was starting to surface from every corner of the city, including the sewers. With this sensation in the air, the residential locations with the most accumulated spiritual power were forced to keep their lights off, and make way to a dim gold aureole that shone at the very center of Republic City with the first star on the sky.

Whether the light came from the sky or the ground, it was hard to say even from up close. If one could ask the residents living the closest to it, many of them would say it came from both.

Korra had the chance to see it from up close as Asami's vehicle made its way to the City Hall. It helped her ignore the people she was going with.

Three minor senators were on board the luxurious satomobile, each with their own political views. Senator Julian was an eccentric man who wanted to be the next president in the following years and make the human race superior against the spirits in every sense of the word.

Senator William, belonging to the Air Nation, stayed neutral about that matter, and rather he focused more on a global unification to bring the exemplary "equality" from Republic City to all four nations.

The third senator had just been elected a few weeks ago, with an idea what shook the senator and the world.

Senator Enok's focus was to give equal rights to the spirits, and teach them the human ways to become part of their society. But that was all he revealed to Korra at the time they introduced themselves

And while all three ignored the Avatar to an extent, Korra herself didn't seem the least bit bothered about it.

"I never would have thought there would be spirits gathering around it. I can barely even see that light from the air temple."

"Nobody really knows why they do it, but there's a rumor around the city that says it's a ritual that will eventually bring balance to this world." theorized Asami without taking her eyes off the road. She rarely trusted someone else with the wheel nowadays, even less with Korra on board.

Their conversation was cut short however.

From the other side of the seat, Senator Julian slammed his hand against the vehicle's mini-bar, causing everyone to look to his way and even for Asami to nearly jerk the wheel.

"Primitive. If they truly want to bring balance then they should go back from where they came from and never come back again!" berated the senator.

"Stop pestering the Avatar, it was her choice and we must make due with it." commented William almost immediately. Of the two senators, he disliked Julian the most due to his short-temper and his ideals of

"Oh yeah? And what about us?! What about our opinion on this matter?" he continued on ranting.

"You're impossible, senator Julian..." mumbled senator Enok, clearly showing no interest in their conversation, and very much acting like Korra was.

After calming senator Julian, William directed his eyes towards the Avatar, showing her a polite smile. Clearly, someone who belonged in politics but it didn't seem to be enough to make her turn his way.

"Please forgive him, his residence used to be at the center of the city, but with the arrival of the spiritual tree, his house was gulped down by the earth and was forced to relocate to near the shore."

"... And that's not all. Do you know how many people are against those monsters?! We will chase them of our land, mark my words!"

"Senator Julian..." shrugged William, completely giving up on changing his mind for the day.

Despite the vivid discussion inside the vehicle continued, Korra couldn't keep her eyes out of the giant tree and the spirits.

Or maybe she was just trying to ignore what they were talking about.

She didn't know things were that bad inside the city. She may have not turned their way but she listened to everything they said, the same thing could be said for Asami who had a hard time keeping her emotions in check.

Korra's main goal had always been to find a way for both spirits and humans to coexist in harmony, but it appeared not everyone shared that ideal. It saddened her, and even though Asami took notice of her grim change of mood, she couldn't do anything about it for as long as they were present, or things would escalate.

Despite lacking any real power on the matter, these people were considered by many the true representatives of the people and their true ideals behind the mask of the sudden Democracy But just as there were people like Senator Julian who were completely against spirits, and there were people like Asami who thought things were better off this way than in the past.

Had Korra known she was going to travel in the same vehicle as these representatives in time, she would have said no to Asami, but doing that was as impossible as Korra bending fire at will right now.

It became quite unpredictable, and frankly it scared her to even think what would happen if she ever lost control over her fire bending again.

She was so into it, looking at the spirits dancing around the aureole of light, she ignored the fact they had arrived to the City Hall and that all three senators had already made their way out.

"Korra? Korra!"

* * *

"Korra, over here!" shouted a group of photographers in near-perfect sync, taking multiple shots of Korra as she made her way out of the vehicle with Asami's helping hand.

"Korra! By the way Asami is taking care of you, is she your underling now?!" yelled out a paparazzi with a very acute tone of voice.

"Is it true that you two are lovers now?!"

"I heard about a marriage. When is it happening?! Tell us some more about it, Avatar Korra!"

"W-What is all this..." Korra whispered under her breath, grinding her teeth as she tried her best to remove the growing feeling of panic.

"Don't listen to them Korra, they'll say anything to make you look their way and then they'll turn your own words against you. Let's just go inside—Thank you everyone!" muttered Asami before directing her gaze towards the paparazzi, splashing a beautiful and charismatic smile on her face, working the crowd even further than they already were.

Whether they were worked up because they had an otherworldly interest in Asami, happy to see the Avatar back on her feet or angry because other people made such big fuss about the Avatar's return, no one could really tell.

One thing was clear though, as they were being pushed back to one side of the vehicle by the crowd, Asami slowly started to show a hint of concern. However, not many took notice of this.

In fact, no one could blame them for thinking that nothing could ever trouble her, but Korra knew better. After depending on her for two long years, Korra learned how to read her expressions. Her reasons to learn how to do this were immoral, but to think they would come in handy... For the first time it looked as if it was Asami who was trying to depend on Korra for once.

" _What can I do... I can't even get over all their shouting."_

The more she thought about it, the more the people made a scandal around her. Asami could only hold her smile for so much, something had to be done.

And quick.

It had to be drastic.

It had to be crazy.

"!" Korra had an epiphany.

" _It has to be crazy."_ with that thought in mind she took the deepest breath she's had in years, and with two fingers on each end of her mouth, she whistled until her breath ran out.

If there's one thing she was good at when she was little, aside from bending, was whistling. Having a polar bear dog for a mascot required it, and she had always been proud of being able to call out Naga from the other side of the fortress when she was a child.

Asami's eardrums on the other hand, didn't enjoy the strength of her lungs quite so much.

* * *

After Naga came in rushing from just two streets away, nearly every single one of the paparazzi, photographer, and the common random civilian within a fifty meters radius, ran away from the fear of a polar bear dog charging at full speed with saliva dripping out from her snout.

Even Asami had the urge to run away if only for a moment, but after Naga stopped just a few inches from Korra, she reached out to her and petted her ears.

"Thank you Naga, you really saved us." said Korra as she too reached out to Naga to scratch her under the chin.

"I've never seen anyone running away from a polar bear dog before." stated Asami, still very surprised with what just happened.

She wasn't really expecting her to take action, much less do something so reckless. But she enjoyed it, and in fact if it wasn't because there were still some people from the inside glaring at them, she would have removed her facade and laugh until her knees gave out.

But instead, she delicately covered her lips with the upper side of her hand and hid her wide grin from the remaining crowd.

"Let's go Korra, everyone's waiting."


	4. I - III

_**"What we've both accomplished for 10,000 years cannot be undone in one lifetime, Korra. Just give up." - Raava.**_

* * *

Laugh.

That's the urge Korra had just as soon as everybody else started to run away from Naga, but she didn't.

" _I wanted to laugh... In fact, I think Asami wants to do the same as well."_ thought Korra to herself as they both gracefully made their way inside the City Hall with their head looking downwards to avoid being seen directly.

Because of this, they would seem to be nervous, nearly shaking with fear, giving them the edge to walk around the crowd as they rarely notice anyone who doesn't hold their head high even in the most dire of situations. The truth was completely different though.

In reality, both Asami and Korra were struggling to keep their laughter in check, hence the reason to keep their head down to hide their shivering grins. Asami was having a harder time controlling it, while Korra's urge had nearly died off by the time they walked inside the main room.

Their surroundings from a scared and confused flock of witnesses and paparazzi that were trying to make their way back to them, took a whole spin and turned into a beautiful ball very much like the first one she attended to when she first arrived to the city.

But things were different. She was different.

" _And the one I'm arriving with..."_ she mumbled to herself for a moment, before turning her eyes towards Asami, who's face turned back to its polite and gentle look of always by now. Asami quickly noticed her staring, and gifted her with a smile so bright it couldn't even compare it to the one she gave off to everybody else.

"How are you holding up?" asked Asami in a whisper.

"I—uh..." she couldn't answer. " _Why?"_ That, she couldn't answer either.

Korra was having a moment of panic all by herself, but for reasons completely different from before, at least until a very familiar voice took her out of her Zen.

"Koooooorra!" said that said voice coming from the other side of the hall. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take it long before it made its way throughout the crowd until he found her and wrapped his arms below her shoulders, raising her up to the air as if she was made of feathers.

Whether that was a good thing or not, Korra was too busy figuring out how to respond, to even think about it.

In fact, she didn't have the time to respond, for Asami did it for her.

"Alright Bolin, that's enough. Other people want to greet her too, you know?" she said fondly, hugging him too as soon as he released Korra from his tight grasp.

"I just can't believe it, I wasn't expecting you to be here Korra! I mean, you haven't gone out of the island in two years! I don't think I could do that—" he rambled, clearly concerned, happy, and excited, all at once after seeing Korra since so long.

Korra had a hard time believing it too. To think it had been two years without stepping out of the island.

"You're going to wear out our Avatar if you keep talking like that, Bolin." said a voice that was nothing like she last had memory of.

"M-Mako." responded Asami with hesitation, covering half of her face with the palm of her hand to hide the deep red coloring her cheeks.

"Miss Sato. Avatar Korra." saluted Mako with a polite reverence, a rather unexpected greeting from someone they've known for a long time now.

"Dude, why the formalities?! Team Avatar is together again, we should be celebrating!" reproached his brother.

"As much as I would want to" Mako paused for a moment before shifting his eyes from his brother to the beautifully dressed ladies in front of him. "I'm on duty right now, and the new chief will have my head if she spots me getting friendly while we're supposed to be on our guard."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." mumbled Bolin mostly to himself, understanding what his brother was referring to.

"Why? Why must you be on your guard?" intervened Korra who grew curious about their topic, hoping it was nothing important.

But Asami's gentle face quickly turned grim, as if she had been reminded of something crucial, thus causing Korra's weak smile to banish completely.

"So, Asami didn't tell you?"

"Mako, I didn't want her to—" she wanted to say, but Mako interrupted.

"I understand, I don't think I could have done it either."

He was gentle, that much hadn't changed about him. Asami was at a loss, and while the grim on her face was gone, she couldn't smile as she did before. Clearly, the topic he touched had priority, and this flustered the Avatar even further.

"G-Guys? I'm right here, you know? What's going on?"

With those words, Bolin too opted a more serious manner, just like his brother, and even though at first she didn't want to pay attention to it, the difference was there. They were grown men, they had changed.

"Follow me, I don't think I'm the one meant to tell you about any of this."

So he said, and she followed with a aggravated look on her face. She was angry with herself once more, because Asami, Mako and Bolin were moving on with their lives, while she was the only one being left behind.

"Chief Beifong."

Mako paid his respects to his superior, though not in title any longer.

She couldn't help but snicker at his actions, to which she was honestly wondering when he was ever going to stop.

"I don't know how many times I've told you I'm no longer your chief, Mako." she reproached, crossing her arms together as if trying to make her word final with a snicker on her face.

"Sorry, chi—Miss Beifong." mumbled Mako to himself, realizing of what he did. Again.

"That being said..." Beifong opted a more polite stance before continuing. "It's good to have someone show some respect in this place. I swear, once you lose your title these people try to eat you right on the spot."

It hit her, why everything seemed different compared to before. She turned her head around and looked at the people, the paparazzi and the wealthy and powerful, and watched how they looked at her in return. The respect she once had, the importance the title of the "Avatar" it once had, was slowly fading away, this she could tell by the judgment in their eyes.

"—Korra?" Beifong repeated herself for a fourth time already, clearly ready to yell out to her if Korra dared to make her repeat herself for a fifth.

"Y-Yes, sorry. I just... never thought you would quit from the law enforcement."

Beifong stood the same rigid way as she did while she was part of the corp at her statement, but Korra noticed one thing in particular. Her facial features look softer, more gentle and unlike the rest of her body, less rigid, allowing her to look nearly 10 years younger if not more. Those wrinkles that showed how stressful it all were and the bags on her eyes showing how tiring the position of chief was for her, were now gone.

"I had it coming for the longest time, but my replacement knows what she's doing. She'll set our corps back on their track. You'll know what I mean once you see her."

"Which brings us to tonight's current situation." said Tenzin from not too far away from them as he made his way into their circle, standing closely to Beifong with the same stiff position that she opted for now, clearly having a hard time not to be an authority figure.

"Tenzin."

"Lin." he replied, before continuing his speech after a forced cough as if trying to bring everyone's attention to himself.

"I overheard your earlier conversation. You couldn't muster up the courage to tell Korra about tonight's events as you were told to, Miss Sato."

"I..." mumbled Asami, mostly to herself just as well. She couldn't come up with a proper answer, not even the faintest of excuses.

"Don't worry, it wouldn't have been easy for any of us had we been in the same position as you." assured Tenzin with an understanding voice, erasing that uneasy feeling everyone was growing inside themselves almost immediately.

"So what's going on?" said with clear uneasiness, giving Tenzin the sign that her patience was wearing thin and turned to Ling, wanting her to respond rather than he.

Beifong understood what had to be done, and she would rather get it over with than keep on beating the bush around some more.

"We believe the Equalists have returned." she said firmly, not even giving Korra the opportunity to think this was a joke.

"What?! But that's impossible! We stopped them—!" she ranted, but just as soon as she started to, Korra felt overpowered by a sound similar to radio static that seemed to drill its way into her brain, all while her vision twisted and twirled around, making her want to vomit whatever she had in her stomach. But it was only for a moment, and before she could understand what was going on, that feeling disappeared with no one seemingly aware about the pain she must have clearly elaborated with any kind of body expression.

"We believed so too." said Mako before elaborating some more. "At first we thought it was a prank Korra, no one would follow Amon and his group after we exposed him as a fraud. But they're out there right now..."

"W-Why did you bring me here if you knew that?" she argued, and though the pain was gone, Korra was now frustrated and had a damn good reason to be so. She was just starting to think things would get better from here on out, but just as soon as she gets out of her temple after two long years, she is already being the target practice of yet another strange cult.

"Because we need to stop them!" snapped Beifong, clearly not wanting to waste any more time. "... and this is the best if not the only opportunity we'll have to do that, Korra." she grunted as if not wanting to hear any excuse from Korra or anyone else as a matter of fact. Beifong's response was honest and cruel to an extent, but rather than keeping her in check, Korra was only feeling worse with herself and somewhat with the rest.

This was supposed to be her night. Her one night to welcome her back into society and be together with the people she's most familiar again.

"So I'm supposed to be bait?!" she hissed out loud, finally snapping at everyone while keeping a grim, if dark look in her eyes as if blaming them for lying to her and make her believe this was the special party she starting to hope it would be.

All except one.

"Korra, I sincerely wanted you to have a good time, that's why I didn't want to tell you any of this..." said Asami, lamenting to see Korra's smile disappear and be replaced with hatred and confusion.

But Korra's anger dwindled after hearing that. Because after depending on her for so long, and being with her for so long, she knew when Asami was being genuine.

"But all things considered..." muttered Beifong as if trying to excuse herself after Tenzin had glared at her with that look that said she had done something wrong. "... at least half of the corp is present and watching all points of entrance. There's no way the Equalists will even come close to you without at least one of my—one of the law enforcement noticing them."

"Chief Kuvira! Chief Kuvira, over here!" proclaimed the crowd out loud all the sudden, cutting their conversation short as the paparazzi and politicians alike quickly made their way around a single woman. Because of how frantic these people seemed to be just to get near her, anyone would have understood had she felt overwhelmed and helpless against their numbers. However, this was not the case.

Having so many people surrounding her didn't seem to faze her, much less stop her from walking her way forward, for just as soon as their circle formed itself, it was slowly being disbanded by each step she took, as if they were trying to keep their distance from the chief of police.

"Chief!" said Mako as he greeted chief Kuvira with respect as she made her way into the circle, giving her back to the paparazzi.

"At ease, Mako." she said with a serenity perhaps greater than Beifong's "You disobeyed a direct order and you turned a blind eye on the danger that might come over us tonight by letting your emotions overcome your sense of duty."

"C-Chief, I can explain..." muttered Mako as he was clearly in trouble from the way Kuvira looked at him. He was being scolded in front of everyone, and for some reason it seemed everybody else but Korra was used to it, nearly enjoying it.

"Because of your actions, you are hereby ordered to enjoy your time with your friends but be in the front lines should anything happen tonight. That is all."

"Ah?" he responded, clearly puzzled as the rest of the circle laughed out loud on him. He was too serious, but despite successfully lightening up the mood as she had intended, Kuvira had little to no reaction on the matter and focused her eyes on towards the Avatar who was standing just aside of her.

"Avatar Korra, I don't think we've been introduced before. I've been looking forward to speak to you. My name is—"

"My father spoke highly of you, Kuvira. It's so good to finally meet you!" said Korra, interrupting Kuvira's introduction in the process, but with no bad intent in doing so.

Kuvira was caught off guard.

With those few words, Korra expressed genuine gratitude towards her father's savior. But what was more unexpected was how sincere Korra's smile was at that very moment.

Of course, no one else took notice of how rare this was except for Asami, who was standing just next to her.

"—It's good to finally meet you as well, I'll personally make sure you're out of harm's way, Avatar Korra."

* * *

 ** _Do let me know of any mistakes or of any way I can improve my writing, please._**


	5. I - IV

_**"Can you do it, Korra? I wonder..." - Vaatu.**_

* * *

"So what do we do now?" asked Mako after Kuvira was done introducing herself. "Do we go on like this conversation never happened?"

"Actually, that's precisely what we'll do." Beifong responded. "We don't want to scare these people away, so we have to play along, at least until we've located them all."

Having heard this, everyone remained silent. There was little to be said after hearing all that, and nobody was truly in the mood to slap a smile for everybody else, not even Bolin who, would usually end up saving the mood for everyone.

"But isn't this too far-fetched? I mean, how are they going to get to Korra if all of us are on our guard? Besides, the hall has never been more f-" Asami asked as she came nothing of something, nearly at the same time as Bolin had.

"Hey, is it just me or is there a lot more people than before?" he asked with a hint of panic in his voice.

"Something's wrong." Kuvira nonchalantly confirmed.

"Oh man, I already have a bad feeling about this..."

The group remained quiet once again, but unlike before, they did so to focus their attention on their surroundings. And then suddenly, they caught it. The numb screams coming from the outside as they made their way into the main hall, only to settle down and further crowd the entire place. Citizens, paparazzi and famous people alike kept coming from all entrances, with still no sign of the one responsible for making everyone panic this way.

And just as they kept flooding into the place, the buzzing inside Korra's head seemed to get only stronger.

"K-Korra, are you alright?" so said someone. Someone she couldn't recognize right now. In fact, she couldn't recognize anyone.

"WHAT?!" she yelled at the voice without knowing she was shouting in the first place.

"Korra, you don't have to shout. We can hear you well and clear." said another voice of a different tone.

And even though she looked at them, to her, they were nothing but blurs and noise. And that only made her angrier.

"D-DON'T YOU HEAR IT?!" Korra yelled once more as she tried to cover her ears to protect them from all the noise. But the more she did, and the more she tried to regain control of her senses, the more dizzy she felt. Until after what seemed an eternity of struggle, she collapsed on the floor, flipping the table in the process.

"Korra!"

"Something's definitely going on..." said Mako in a hurry as he ran to Korra's side and easily picked her up on his arms. "Forget about being bait, we have to get Korra out of here!"

However, as he tried to make his way out of the circle, Kuvira stopped him on his tracks by grabbing Korra with equal strength as he. "Stand down." she said. "I know why Korra is—", but she couldn't finish her sentence.

Because just as she was doing so, she was pushed around by the masses. The main hall was getting crowded to the point of crushing other people on their feet should they ever falter, and now even their circle was no longer safe.

"At least we have to get her somewhere away from all this people, right?!" said Bolin as he tried to keep some of the rabble away from both Mako and Asami, protecting Team Avatar.

"Just where are they all coming from?!" worried Asami who was also growing in panic. It wouldn't take long before the entire main hall was overcrowded with people.

And just as the circle was being trampled by the rabble, Korra's body begin to arch and jerk in all directions, as if something was taking a hold of her. But just as soon as everyone noticed it, especially Mako who was carrying her, she pointed up to the roof as if trying to tell them to look up.

"L-LOOK OUT!" she screamed, but to everyone's dismay, her voice was overshadowed by the eerie sound of an explosion.

* * *

One just wouldn't believe what happened, or how. One moment they were discussing about their people's layout and how to capture the equalists once and for all, and then...

" _Then what happened?_ " Asami asked this to herself. She didn't know where she was or know how long it had been. The only thing she could take notice of was of being carried away, away from the screams of the city.

* * *

And it were those screams, that woke Korra from her near deep sleep.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she smelled the dust and sneezed. She was up, thinking any moment now Asami would come knocking into her room and greet her with that beautiful smile of hers.

But there was no light coming from the window, only overshadowing darkness. There were no greetings, only the sound of people in sheer agony. There was no beautiful smile to welcome her, just the panicked attempts of a man and a woman trying to prevent the rubble from squashing them all just like the rest.

She wasn't able to stop it. Once again, people were being harmed because of her.

And this time, she would have been hurt as well if it wasn't for Bolin and Kuvira, who kept most of the rubble at bay, out of the inner circle's reach, and from whoever was closest to them.

Everybody else was either injured and screaming for help, or...

What they accomplished was as much as anyone would be capable of without a warning. If there was one being who would be able to stop such a monumental explosion, it was Korra. But regrettably, that individual was but a shadow of her former self.

And this, she fully understood once more, after Kuvira split the heaviest rock to smithereens and revealed the once magnificent building that represented the city had turned into debris all around their feet, burying hundreds if not thousands of people within.

* * *

 _ **As always, I more than welcome your advice. Edit: Corrected on June 9, 9:28 AM**_


	6. I - V

_**"This isn't what I wanted..." - Amon.  
**_

* * *

Tan pronto como ella salio del desagüe, el olor inmediatamente le digo donde estaba exactamente, y solo habia un solo lugar en toda la ciudad con esta densidad de arboles y plantas que simplemente no pertenecian al mundo humano. The Spirit Wilds al centro de Republic City.

Pero al llegar supuestamente a un lugar fuera del peligro, aun en dolor y cansada, Korra no se atrevio a descansar. No, vale decir que no podia descansar al ver el poco cielo que el denso bosque dejaba ver.

La ciudad entera ardia en llamas.

Al ver esto, Korra entro en un pequeño trance, ya que las convulsiones que sintio justo momentos antes de la explosion, habian regresado, solo que esta vez, ella fue capaz de ver algo mas alla de lo que sus ojos le habian dejado.

Como un sonar conectado a sus pies, de la nada vino en su cabeza un plano en detalle de la complejidad del bosque, pero antes de que pudiera si quiera intentar comprender parte de la imagen en su cabeza, su cuerpo se movio por puro reflejo, agachandose para evadir una fuerte patada viniendo por su espalda.

Al evadirla, y apenas comprendiendo lo que estaba pasando, de la nada Korra usa la tiera para hacer que el equalist se resbalara con la pierna con la que aterrizaba, y una vez casi cayendo el suelo, Korra lanza una fuerte patada a su abdomen, mandandolo fuertemente contra uno de los arboles espirituales.

Y fue por esos pocos segundos, por la que Korra perdio cualquier vision que estaba teniendo del bosque a su alrededor, incluyendo el tubo de desagüe por el que salio, dejandola asi completamente desorientada.

Muy lentamente, el ambiente que la rodeaba cambio completamente. Aun para ella, el Avatar que conecta a tanto humanos como espiritus, se sentia como si el bosque entero fuera hostil hacia ella.

Y pronto se sintio como si el bosque en si empezara a dar giros alrededor de ella, cambiando completamente el contexto de sus alrededores, como si sus residentes quisieran impedir su regreso al terreno humano.

Fue asi como Korra empezo a temerle a sus alrededores. Mucho habia pasado el dia de hoy, y solo parecia ponerse peor con cada minuto que pasaba, y por cada minuto que seguia, Korra simplemente se olvido del dolor en su cuerpo entero, y corrio.

Corria esta vez, para huir de todo. De los gritos de desesperacion de la gente en City Hall, de Kuvira talvez cayendo a manos de los equalists despues de haberlos atrasados lo mas que pudo, de Asami desapareciendo, y de el simple hecho de que la ciudad entera sufria el mismo dia en el que regresaba.

Con todo eso en la cabeza, Korra no noto sus alrededores que cambiaban al mismo ritmo en el corria, hasta que su pie se enredo entre las fuertes ramas de uno de los arboles mas anchos del bosque, y tropezo, raspando sus ya adoloridas piernas contra piedra y tierra, al igual que sus brazos y abdomen, haciendo trizas el fragil vestido.

El dolor de su cuerpo era mas psycologico que fisico. Aun despues de dos años, su cuerpo mantenia parte de su fuerza, fue asi como lanzo al equalist con tanta fuerza, pero habia algo mas en ella, que no le dejaba simplemente seguir adelante de lo que paso.

Con este pensamiento en mente, Korra noto los chasquidos de ramas rompiendose y de varias pisadas acercandose a ella. Pero nadie llamaba su nombre.

Como podia escuchar eso, cuando sonaban tan lejos, no lo sabia y no habia tiempo para averiguarlo. Pero por arte de magia, despues de regresa su vista al frente con la intencion de seguir corriendo mientras su cuerpo le dejara, Korra noto como el bosque se cerraba justo enfrente de ella, los arboles creando un muro a su alrededor, imposible de penetrar con simple fuerza.

Del shock y el panico, Korra apenas e intento "earth-bend" la base de los arboles, y se preocupo mas por lo que pasaria si ellos la atraparan.

Con miedo, y temiendo por su vida, empezo a gritar "Auxilio!" con todas sus fuerzas, esperando que al menos alguien, quien fuera, no importa quien, la salvara.

Justo cuando iba a gritar una segunda vez, los equalists llegaron hacia ella, Korra intentando pegarse a los arboles tanto como fuera posible, intentando prolongar lo inevitable.

Una vez mas, dijo auxilio con lagrimas en sus ojos, y fue solo justo antes de que los 12 equalists pudieran tocarla, que de la nada alguien cayo de los arboles al centro del circulo que el bosque habia hecho.

"Stinky? Can it be?" dijo una voz casi burlona mientras que, sin que se diera cuenta nadie, sostenia uno de los doce equalists por la cabeza, quebrando su mascara con la pura fuera de su mano.

El ser tenia un complejo ligeramente parecido al de un lemur volador transparente con excepcion de su brazo izquierdo que sostenia al equalist agonizante, con una gruesa capa de "fur" en la mayoria de su cuerpo, con excepcion de sus brazo que sostenian un tono mas fuerte de color cafe, y no tanto "fur" como el resto de su cuerpo.

"A spirit. On him!" Dijo el hombre en frente de todos, volviendo su brazo de Korra y dirigiendose al espiritu que arrojaba a su compañero hacia uno de los muros del bosque, chupandolo hacia el interior, y llevandose consigo sus llantos de auxilio.

"10,000 years... And you still don't know your place?!" dijo con una voz mas amenazante y madura mientras optaba una posicion mas combativa y perdia el color gris cafe de su cuerpo, optando por un color naranja y negro, mientras que su puntiaguda nariz se aplanaba completamente, dejando asi el aspecto de una mascara blanca al tope de donde estaba su cara, con solos sus ojos dorados descubiertos y dientes afilados fusionados junto a la mascara.

En horror, los equalists, y Korra, vieron como se transformaba en un espiritu oscuro, pero muy diferente a los que ella estaba acostumbrada a pelear, ya que al parecer no habia perdido la razon de ser.

Y antes de que pudieran razonar lo que estaba pasando enfrente de ellos, el espiritu oscuro se lanzo franticamente hacia los equalists, agarrando a uno con su pie izquierdo, ahora una garra del tamaño de una mano, y dos mas en sus manos, chocandolos justo a lado de Korra, que veia tanto fascinada y aterrorizada de la forma de pelear del espiritu y el como usaba sus alrededores para deshacerse de sus oponentes sin dificultad alguna.

Quedando solo 8, en un grupo se lanzaron hacia a gran velocidad hacia Korra, queriendo al menos llevarse al Avatar fuera del bosque, pero tan pronto como se acercaban, una gran lanza en forma de una pierna recibio a otros dos mas, rompiendo sus cascos facilmente, y mandandolos a otra parte del muro del bosque, succionandolos al igual que a los otros.

Con sus numeros, facilmente reducidos a 6, el lider equalist con sus manos en formas de puño, dio la orden de retirada, no sin antes de gritarle al Avatar. "Listen well Avatar. There is no place in this world where we won't find you! Your days are counted" y de su traje, saco tres explosivos seemingly diminutivos, y los lanzo hacia el Avatar.

En panico, el espiritu corrio hacia el Avatar, y usando el bosque a su alrededor como escudo, protegio al Avatar de la inmensa explosion, apenas haciendo suficiente escudo para protegerlos a los dos.

En sus brazos, yacia la casi inconciente Korra, quien al ver el espiritu oscuro cargandola a la mitad de la noche, casi intenta alejarse completamente de el si no fuera porque su cuerpo simplemente no parecia responderle.

"You..." quiso decir, pero el espiritu la interrumpio con una voz que casi hacia que temblara de miedo por lo maligna que sonaba.

"You are not him. You smell like him, but you are not him."

"Who are you... talking about?" respondio el Avatar con dolor en su voz.

"I'll take you to him, he will decide what we'll do with you, Stinky."

"Where are we going...?" Dijo, casi en panico creyendo haber caido en manos hostiles nuevamente, especialmente con la forma en la que el mismo bosque parecia tratarla, pero casi inmediatamente, se vio fascinada al ver una cantidad inumerable de espiritus reunidos en circulo alrededor de el bosque, curiosos de quien habia llegado, pero al mismo tiempo haciendo paso para que pasara el espiritu oscuro quien cargaba al Avatar.

Y como si fuera una ilusion, al llegar el espiritu al centro del circulo, los arboles que parencian llegar a los cielos desde el punto de vista del Avatar, desaparecieron, diendo luz a una ciudad, hecha de las ruinas de Republic City que el bosque se habia tragado, y en el tope de uno de los edificios mas altos, se encontraba la silueta de un hombre junto a otros 6 hombres arrodillados alrededor de el.


	7. I - VI

It was the unique sweet fragrance from her surroundings what told her where she was exactly, for there was only one place in Republic City with the same density of mystical trees as the one surrounding her now: the main district's Spirit Wilds of Republic City.

But despite having arrived to a, supposedly, safe haven compared to where she was mere minutes ago, she didn't feel like resting. No, it would be right to say she didn't feel it was the time to be resting. It was due to this mixed feeling of unease coming from the forest now surrounding her that Korra decided to look upwards to the sky and find commodity in the stars, only to notice something she should have seen or smelled from the moment she got out of the sewers had she not been distracted by the eerie feeling in the air.

There had been one other thing that had mixed itself into the fresh-like atmosphere of the forest, the thick smell of sulfur and old wood.

Using what little air-bending she could do with her current condition, Korra made the tree branches react to her power and make the path to the sky clearer, revealing what could only be described as the entire Republic City engulfed in purple flames.

Seeing this made her panic and fear for more than just the lives of those she left behind, but for the well-being of everything Avatar Aang had fought for, for so many years.

Suddenly, a seizure similar to the one before the explosion overwhelmed her again. Only this time, she was able to see something beyond her eye's reach, and out of nowhere, in her head, she could picture the forest's complexity with unimaginable detail.

However, before she could even have the chance to understand something about the images inside her head, her body bent forward instinctively, dodging by mere millimeters a strong kick coming from behind her back, and severing the connection she had formed with her surroundings in the process.

Irritated by this, Korra, moving her body by shee panic and reflex, bent the earth around the equalist's feet, making his feet slip to the side closest to her leg, and just before his body could reach the ground and regain his posture, Korra launched a powerful kick towards his stomach, sending him with outstanding speed against a spirit tree, knocking her opponent out on the spot.

* * *

It was by this distraction that Korra lost even the slightest bit of information she had gathered of her environment, leaving the location of the disgusting sewer pipe poking out of the forest's ground that stood out like a sore thumb, completely out of her sight as well.

But just as she was about to make a bold move to a random direction, the pressure in the air changed as she took the first step. For even for her, the one who connects both human and spirit's worlds together, it felt as if the entire forest did not welcome her presence.

Hoping it was all in her head, Korra blamed her exhaustion for the eerie symptoms and watched over her surroundings for any clearer path to follow. There was nowhere though, because the forest kept it that way. With its roots twisting, twirling and arching as if they were in pain, they stirred and transformed the setting afront her, over and over again until nothing was left recognizable.

It was like this, that Korra started to fear of the forest's intentions. Much had happened in such a short amount of time, and the world only proved to get worse with each passing second. Korra simply let go of all reason, and ran without caring whether her body ached or trembled of tiredness.

Unlike before, she ran away to escape from everything that had happened up until that moment. From the desperate cries for help from the people buried in ruins of the City Hall, to the possibility of Kuvira falling to enemy hands and Asami's sudden disappearance. It was as if the entire city was in pain because of her presence that night.

Then, as if hands had seeped from the dirt and reached out to the Avatar, it wasn't until she felt her legs being pulled to a side that she woke up from her trance, only to see herself falling onto thick rock and dirt, making of her fine dress a muddy, ragged garment.

Even so, her body wounds at that moment were more psychological than physical, for even after two long years of doing nothing to keep herself in top shape as she had done in the past, her body retained some of its past strength, and it was only because of this remaining strength why she was able to defeat that equalist in the first place.

Now, without getting up from the ground and letting the blood on her injures circulate without a care, Korra once more connected to her surroundings, and this time with a clearer picture of what was going on around her than before. Then, as if waiting for that moment of weakness, people still far away from her location moved in unison, but these were not followed by pleas for response, nor were familiar voices. These people were trying to be quiet, to be precise and to leave no room for escape, for there were at least a dozen that she could see in her head, closing in on her.

How could she see this, and hear them when each step they took forward was done with so much care, you wouldn't even listen to them even if they were in front of you.

To her, it felt like the world itself was telling to run from these people, and run she did.

* * *

There was no time to figure out what the hell happened back there. As soon as she stood up on her feet, the information in her head had once again disappeared without a trace. All that remained in her memory was the gap she had used to escape from her pursuers, who were now giving chase as they cursed one another, not able to comprehend how they were discovered.

And just as they were closing in, as if by magic and only after she had turned her head back to the front, Korra noticed how the gaps between the trees started to widen themselves, leaving a surprising amount of room for her to run to. Yet, that small though that the spirit forest had finally come for her aid, did not last long.

The equalists stopped as they gazed on their surroundings, Korra doing the same thing as they.

The bark of the trees creaked as a strong wind current was ostensibly forming an impregnable wall around them by using the thickest trees, not leaving a single crook for anyone to run to this time around.

Thus, surrounded by a coliseum made of seemingly impregnable woods, and with equalists just a few meters away from her, Korra felt a hint of betrayal at the back of her head.

Earth-bending the roots from underground did nothing, neither did trying to cave in to try to make a tunnel. She simply had no strength left.

And now, with even less strength on her due to her pathetic attempts to escape, the equalists, in mockery, took their time as they walked to the Avatar.

"You... are the Avatar? You?" said one of the equalist, the apparent leader of the twelve who struggled to keep his laughter in check.

And just this was enough to truly break what was left of her old self.

"H-help!" she murmured a couple of times before she had finally managed to scream those words out loud to the world. But it was this one word what told the equalists that they had already won.

The great Avatar, the invincible one, the uniter of humans and spirits, the one who controls all four elements.

That one overwhelming being was powerless before them, and was now ripe for the taking.

In the other hand, she for once in her lifetime, did not care what other people thought about her, even if this made a stain in the name of the Avatar, she didn't care.

She just wanted to be saved, no matter by whom.

Alas, the leader equalist finally caught up to her who was crawling at the corners of the giant tree wall, punching the forest in hope for a miracle while she screamed at the top of her lungs with tears running on her face symbolizing both fear and desperation.

But it was only until they were mere inches from laying a finger on her olive skin, that out of thin air, something jumped from atop the trees' leafs, landing on its toes at the very center of the coliseum.

"Stinky?" it asked with a curious voice as it stood up straight, measuring six feet with ease. "Can it be?"

And yet, despite his cheerful smile, no one could react in any other way but with fear, as he carried on his claw one of the twelve equalists by the head, shattering his helmet with the mere strength of his grip.

The being held an appearance similar to a lemur, his entire body half transparent for the exception of his left arm that held the agonizing equalist as his claws reached his skull.

"A spirit. On him!" said the equalist leader, turning his attention away from Korra and to the spirit, as she, even if she wanted to, could not go anywhere or do anything to prevent what would happen to her.

The spirit, hearing his, with a snarl threw their companion away towards the forest who instinctively made a gap between its roots to suck up the equalist, taking with him his pleas for help or any other sign that he still existed in that world.

"It's been over 10,000 years... And you still don't know your place?!" said with a much more threatening voice, nearly maniacal and mature as it opted a more combative position and shed his fur in exchange for a bright orange and black skin, turning himself into a dark spirit.

With a white grin revealing his sharpened teeth, he clawed the floor with all four limbs and launched himself forward to the equalists and the Avatar.

Korra could only witness in horror what seemed to be a spirit unlike anything she had ever seen so far as it made its way to them.

And even before they could reason what was going on, or who their opponent truly was, the dark spirit took one of the nearest equalist with his left foot, and two more with his hands, and crushed their heads against one another, all while grinning to the Avatar, inspecting her as she looked back at him in more terror than awe by the sheer wildness of his fighting style and how he got rid of the equalists that, to her, felt impossible to defeat at the time.

Now that eight remained, the whole group leap towards Korra at great speed, wanting to at least take the Avatar away from the spirit forest, but just as soon as they approached, a great whip in the form of the dark spirit's leg sent two more equalists to the borders of the forest, sucking them up just as their friend had been.

With their numbers now dimmed to only six, the equalist leader, with his hands trembling with anger, ordered the retreat, but no before saying something that could very well haunt the Avatar for the rest of her life. "Listen well, Avatar!" He screamed, taking her and the spirit by surprise.

"There is no place in this world where we won't find you. Humanity doesn't need you anymore!"

And from his suit, took a handful of explosives seemingly small and ineffective at first glance, and threw them towards the Avatar.

Caught unprepared, the dark spirit launched himself as quickly as he could towards the Avatar, bending the forest to make a shield around themselves, just in time to protect both himself and the Avatar from an unexpectedly powerful explosion, reducing the shield easily to ashes.

* * *

In his arms laid the Avatar, barely conscious as she opened her eyes, only to see the dark spirit carrying her in the middle of the night as if he knew the forest by heart. Instinctively, she tried to push away from him, but her body wouldn't move as she wanted it to.

"You..." she tried to say, but the dark spirit interrupted her with a voice that would make even the bravest of people tremble.

"You are not him. You smell alike, but you're nothing like him."

"Who are you... talking about?" murmured the Avatar with a dried throat.

"I'll take you to him, he will decide what will happen to you, Stinky."

"Where are we going...?" she asked again, not realizing the fire in the forest the dark spirit was walking away from.

But after hearing no response, and before she could even demand for one, her surroundings answered for him.

From the corners of her eyes, she noticed handful of spirits peeking their bright golden eyes out of the woods out of curiosity. Spirits easily numbering two dozens did the same as they, and from the sides of these, hundreds more followed suit. Before she could even continue to count the amount of heads gazing up on the Avatar and the dark spirit, Korra found herself surrounded by thousands upon thousands of spirits who were curious of who had come to their sanctuary, and why.

As the dark spirit walked deeper into the forest, the trees around them opened a straight path ahead of them almost elegantly. The spirits did the same by never getting in their way, but never truly taking their eyes away from the Avatar either. And unlike people, Korra couldn't even begin to understand what these spirits were thinking about about, or what they thought about her in the first place.

The dark spirit followed the path until at long last, the forest and the spirits' natural light revealed to her human structures inside the spirit forest of what remained of Republic City's main district.

The sensation of discovery caused the Avatar to disregard the man who meditated at the center of the forest's city, a man who had been waiting for her arrival for many years now.

"You wouldn't believe who I brought here tonight, Noatak." said the dark spirit with the same cheerful voice of before as his skin slowly turned itself back to its normal state as he dropped the Avatar carefully on her feet once again, to gaze upon the man who was now standing on his feet, turning his attention to her.


	8. I - Final

Though his body did not move from the spot, her presence was felt the moment she had taken a step into the forest.

His face was covered in nostalgia, followed by an extreme sadness that reminded him of what happened the day he had escaped, but that was not the face he wanted to reveal to her after so long.

"You wouldn't believe who I brought here tonight, Noatak" said the spirit as he turned back to normal, and as he did this, Noatak broke posture and raised up on his feet with elegance, something that even till today he was used to. Many emotions passed through him as he first made eye contact with the Avatar again.

In him there was rage, happiness, sadness, jealousy, and regret. But as he gazed up on the Avatar further, he felt pity for what the Avatar, the one person who managed to stop him in more ways than one, had been reduced to.

Nonetheless, her arrival was as unexpected as her victories against him were. Believing he was superior to the Avatar, he tried to create a world different from Raava's meaning of peace. But the catalyst, who supposedly represented the light in all beings, turned out to be much more powerful and resilient than he ever hoped it would be.

From that moment on; from his defeat, he understood he had been nothing but a stepping stone for the Avatar's growth.

And now, that same person was just a few steps away from him once more, with horror and confusion overwhelming her every sense.

The circumstances hadn't been the right ones in the past, hence there was no reason for them to be otherwise today. The Avatar showing up in the spirit's city so soon after her return to Republic City was not part of his plan.

But that would be no problem, he simply had to throw it away, and improvise instead.

That was one of the many things he learned from the Avatar, but it was something he would forever be grateful for.

* * *

 _ **In case you haven't noticed just yet: I write this story as I go, so please forgive my grammar. And if you also need to know, then yes: I purposely repeated the same sentence.  
**_


	9. II - Prologue

To many people, the manifestation of a ghost can be interpreted in many ways. Many stare at these in awe, others with sadness in their eyes, and then there are people like Korra who were almost driven to their knees by the confusion.

Just standing up, a few feet from where she stood, was a man who's figure was hard not to remember, but at the same time was unlike she had him in her head.

"Korra... Avatar Korra..." he said nonchalantly, raising his head as if trying to make clear a wide gap of authority between them at that moment.

And she, with a noticeable flinch across her eyebrows, launched herself at him with a desperate cry, both hands fused with fire as she earnestly tried to stop him from ranting around her name. "You...!"

But this did not last long, for as soon as he tilted his head to a side, and avoided her fiery fist with minimum effort from his end, the dark spirit rose his hand in command and with it, three small spirits held the Avatar from her thighs and waist, and shone metallic red.

What this caused, was the Avatar falling on her knees with utmost force with an agonizing cry of pain.. Whether her bones were fractured by the sheer weight the spirits had put on her body or not, it was difficult to say.

Feeling as though she would faint she clenched her teeth, and with both hands on the floor, she made sure not to give in once again.

"A commendable response... but not quite what I was hoping to see today, after so long..." he said again, with the same tone of before. The only difference in his actions was how casually he reached out to her chin and lifted her head on to face him straight on.

In that moment, to the two of them, history was reliving itself in their actions. She then understood what he meant; this had been the same type of pain, and the same type of reaction she had when she first set her eyes on him. Frustration and anger, but also fear thereafter.

However, that panic that seemed to almost overwhelm her stopped in its tracks when she noticed it the fact the spirits were against her on this forest, rather than with her.

"W-Why are they helping you...?" she asked, frightful of the answer.

"Why, indeed?" he asked to himself as he let go of the Avatar before turning his back on her, and continue ramble his ideal. "That is a question I ponder about to this day, I thought the spirits were forced to do your bidding, Avatar Korra, but it seems in this world their opinions matter just as much as ours... You may let go of her too, Aye."

"I see you and her have met, Noatak."

The dark spirit, who responded by the name of Aye, snapped his fingers together, and in that instant the spirits holding on the Avatar on the spot, stopped the shimmering of their bodies, letting the Avatar free again.

"Tell me..." Korra hesitated her actions, not knowing whether demanding for an answer would be a wise thing to do. But seeing as Amon, the former leader of the Equalists, was in Republic City in this precise spot, where one could, in his or her own sick way look at how the City drove itself into chaos in all its glory, was too much of a coincidence to let it pass. And so, to further make her point, she nearly screamed at the top of her lungs her question.

"Did you do this?!" she asked, or rather she demanded at the top of her lungs as she pointed out to the sky where only smoke and ash was visible outside the forest's own ecosystem.

"I did not."

"You're lying!" she gritted in her teeth, to which Aye responded by almost snapping his fingers again. Noatak, however, raised his palm as to stop him before he too bent on his knees, to Korra's own eye-level.

"Tell me.. Why ask something if you don't like the answer? Would it really please you to put at fault innocent people and spirits alike, just to satisfy your blind need for justice?" he stated, not waiting for an answer as he made his way to the center of the spirit's city again, where many spirits were gathering as per his instructions.

Korra, at this point, was shocked. But at the same time, she had been brought back to her senses. As logical as her way of thought might have been, she had no way to prove he was the real culprit.

And now, seeing as Noatak was focused on whatever the spirits were carrying with them to him, she attempted to stand on her feet. And much to her surprise, it was done with minimal effort of her part.

As she looked down, she noticed the spirits never did let go of her body, but rather they wrapped themselves tightly against it, and seemingly helped her movement. Because of this, she couldn't help but exchanges glances with the dark spirit, Aye.

Aye, looked back at her with a much warmer smile than he did when they first met. Seeing as the aura around the Avatar was no longer that of a combatant or a scaredy cat, he had no reason not to look at her with nostalgic eyes.

If anything, for just that moment before she turned her head back to Noatak and followed him suit, Aye looked at the Avatar as if he was looking at his long-time friend, Wan.

A friend he sorely missed.

* * *

 **I'm so very sorry for not keeping up with this story as I first intended to. To say I did this around two hours ago, proves how busy my life has been over the past few months. If this chapter doesn't make any sense at all, I apologize again!**


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